Commercial property/casualty insurance prices continue to rise
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Commercial property/casualty insurance price increases are continuing at midyear, though the pace of those price increases has peaked, according to the most recent six-month survey of property/casualty buyers by Barclays Capital Inc.
The survey of 75 risk managers for Barclays' midyear 2013 survey showed prices for property and casualty lines are expected to increase 2% at midyear renewals, down slightly from the 3% anticipated increase in Barclays' survey six months ago.
The survey saw 73% of respondents reporting overall rate increases, down from 83% at the start of the year, with 8% of respondents seeing price decreases, compared with none of those surveyed six months ago. The remaining 19% of risk managers reported flat renewals, up slightly from 17% six months ago.
Of those surveyed, 92% characterized policy terms and conditions as stable compared with a year ago, up from 89% in the survey at the start of the year. Tighter terms and conditions were reported by 7% of those surveyed, down from 9% six months ago. And the survey showed little activity in multiyear deals, with two respondents indicating they renewed multiyear deals at midyear compared with five at the start of 2013.
Nearly all the buyers surveyed — 99% — described the property/casualty market as stable at midyear, up from 96% at the start of the year.
The survey suggested that brokers' fees will be largely unchanged in 2013, with 74% of midyear survey respondents reporting no change compared with 75% at the start of the year, while 19% reported higher fees compared with 18% in January, and 7% reported lower fees, the same percentage as the survey six months ago.
The proprietary Barclays survey was based on interviews with 75 risk managers in the U.S. and Canada, most representing large national accounts.
